


how not to care for a familiar with Rakgi and Geras

by Lukra (49percentchanceofbees)



Category: Flight Rising
Genre: Gen, Neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 11:44:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16872336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/49percentchanceofbees/pseuds/Lukra





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey, Geras!” Rakgi called. Geras, who’d been napping, stirred and shook her head as her fellow Guardian burst into her room. “Where’s your familiar? Mine’s doing something weird and it doesn’t speak Common, and I can’t relax with it making that noise.”

“Mm – what?” Geras said, still drowsy. “Uh, Fee?”

“Whatever you call it,” Rakgi said, dismissively. “Come on, I’ve got Kelsus watching it but I still don’t want to leave it alone for long. Unless you think Bartos speaks Serthis? He’s half decent in Coatl, maybe he can help me out.”

“Rakgi, could you … be quiet for half a minute?” Geras lurched to her feet, shuffled across the room, and plunged her head into a basin of water. _Ick._  As a Fire dragon, she wasn’t particularly fond of the liquid. But it did the trick and brought her awake, so that she could turn to Rakgi and try to make sense of the conversation. “Your familiar is doing something weird? The Carmine Serthis?”

“Yeah! I want yours to talk to it and figure out how to make it stop. So where is it?”

“Fee’s a she,” Geras said, irked. She’d told Rakgi this before, when first asking him for advice about the familiar – a brief conversation, in which he’d admitted that he never really paid attention to his Serthis and it had never spoken to him. Fee, Geras’ own familiar, didn’t seem to take much interest in her fellow Serthis either. Geras had never asked about it, Fee not exactly welcoming questions, but she wondered if maybe the two snake-creatures were from rival clans or something. But still, Fee probably had a better insight into the Carmine Serthis’ behavior than either of the dragons. Glancing around the room, Geras noted her familiar’s absence. “She’s probably getting food or something. Let’s check the hoard.”

“Maybe you should do that,” Rakgi said, looking uncomfortable, and something else he’d said struck Geras.

“Did you say you left Kelsus to watch your familiar?” Unlike Geras’ Opheodrys, Carmine Serthis were venomous, and the Fae wasn’t even half the familiar’s size. If something had maddened the creature…

“Yeah, that why I wanted you to wake up – so I can get back there.”

“I suggest you do,” Geras said, a bit of an edge in her voice. If Kelsus had gotten hurt just because Rakgi was too unthinking to ask someone a bit larger to keep an eye out for him. “I’ll go find Fee.”

“Thanks, Geras; you’re a lifesaver.” Rakgi gave a rather sickly grin. “Er… not literally. I think.”

“ _Go on_ ,” Geras ordered. Nodding rapidly, Rakgi left post-haste. Geras followed at a more reasonable speed, noting that in his hurry, Rakgi’s claws had chipped the pink stone of her cavern entrance. Did he never pay attention to what he was doing? Guardians were supposed to be _responsible_. How did he think he was going to take care of a charge if he couldn’t even manage a familiar?

 _Maybe he doesn’t worry about it like you do_ , suggested a corner of Geras’ brain. _Maybe Rakgi isn’t fussed about his Search._

He had to be, didn’t he? Didn’t all Guardians have to perform their Search? Was a Guardian even fully _Guardian_  without a charge? Geras wished there was someone other than Rakgi she could discuss these questions with, some older Guardian, but they were the only ones.

Those were worries for another time, though. For now, she needed to find Fee so they could deal with Rakgi’s berserk familiar.


	2. Chapter 2

“Fee?” Geras had followed the Serthis’ scent – familiar, after sharing a room with the creature – to the section of the hoard devoted to storing materials. She didn’t see the familiar, though, not until she spoke.

“Here.” Fee emerged from behind a stack of shale. “Do you need something?”

“Yes. Rakgi’s having trouble with his Serthis; could you come talk to it? Please?”

“Rakgi’s Serthis is female,” Fee noted coolly. She peered up at Geras with those orange eyes, like tiny mirrors of the Guardian’s own. “I’m not particularly interested talking your friend through interspecies relations.”

“Apparently she’s gone berserk,” Geras said. “I’m worried that she’ll hurt herself – or someone else. And if she’s dangerous, I doubt Rakgi or the others will let her stay here.”

Geras thought that Fee’s response was a shrug. She certainly didn’t seem very concerned about what became of her fellow Serthis – although Geras still wasn’t very good at reading emotion in that tiny face and narrow body. In any case, Fee showed little inclination to move or acquiesce.

“Please,” Geras added. “I don’t want to see anyone hurt.”

“All right. Lead the way.” 

Geras obeyed, padding out of the hoard and to Rakgi’s cave. Fee was able to keep up with her well, she noted, slithering quickly across the smooth pink stone of the caverns. Just as well: Geras didn’t want to delay, and she didn’t think Fee would have let her carry her.

Before even reaching Rakgi’s cave, Geras could hear what the problem was. Screeching and hissing filled the air even several Guardian-lengths away. Gavin, whose own room was nearby, was standing in the hallway.

“Do you know what that is?” he asked as Geras approached.

“Rakgi’s familiar is upset.”

“Well, please have him stop it soon. It’s upsetting my flowers.” Gavin turned and vanished into his own cave, probably to plug his ears. Something about his words bothered Geras, but she couldn’t say what until she glanced down and saw Fee curled by her foreleg. Of course: Gavin had referred to Rakgi’s familiar as if it were totally under his control, with no drive of its own – like an object. What would Geras had thought if he’d spoken the same way about Fee? What would _Fee_  have thought? But Gavin hadn’t meant any harm by it. Didn’t he have a familiar? Geras thought he was training some kind of bear at the moment. He wouldn’t have to worry about speaking to it, about analyzing semantics.

“I was under the impression that you were in a hurry,” Fee said, a bit acerbically.

“Oh – yes. Let’s go.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh, you’re here,” Kelsus chirped, his high-pitched voice as unexpressive as ever – but since he fluttered down from the stalactite he was clinging to to perch on Geras’ head, she was fairly certain that he was glad to see her.

“Yep, here to save the day,” Geras said, with a sarcasm she knew Kelsus wouldn’t catch. Fee gave her a sidelong look, but that wasn’t necessarily appreciation of her humor: the Serthis could have been annoyed, since Geras really contributed nothing but her familiar’s abilities.

“It’s inside,” Kelsus said, unnecessarily: Geras could easily hear Rakgi’s familiar screeching. “It tried to bite me, so I had to stick to the ceiling, and then Rakgi sent me out here to wait for you.”

Geras said nothing in reply, just led Fee into Rakgi’s cavern, but her jaw clenched. So the Carmine Serthis had tried to attack Kelsus. She didn’t blame the creature for that – she blamed Rakgi. There were more than a dozen dragons he could have asked to watch his berserk familiar, and he’d picked the smallest and most vulnerable.

“Fun, isn’t it?” Kelsus said, bending over to look into Geras’ eyes from above. She hoped the Fae was joking – you could never tell, with his delivery.

“Hmm, something like that,” she said, trying to humor him. She couldn’t tell what Kelsus’ reaction was: his crest waved, but she didn’t know what that meant. Beside her, Fee hissed, sudden and hostile, and Geras looked up to see… “Rakgi! What are you doing?”

“I – I just wanted it to shut up,” the red Guardian muttered guiltily, releasing the Carmine Serthis, which he’d held down and shaken a bit as it hissed and spat at him.

“I don’t blame her for attacking you, if this is how you take care of a familiar,” Geras growled, though she couldn’t have said exactly where the hot rage in her chest had come from. He hadn’t been shaking the Serthis hard enough to really hurt her, and restraint was only sensible with the creature going berserk – but no wonder the familiar didn’t like Rakgi. Geras glanced down to see Fee coiled next to one of her fore-talons, watching her clan-mate with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, come on, Geras,” Rakgi said. “Don’t be… Come on, can your familiar help or not?”

“I guess we’ll see. Fee?”


	4. Chapter 4

The Carmine Serthis tried to lash out at Fee at first, and Geras started forward automatically, but Fee swayed back easily and hissed at her. Geras’ ears couldn’t resolve the sounds into words, but apparently the two Serthis made something out of it, because Fee slid back to Geras’ side a moment later. The Carmine lunged after her for a moment, then fell back.

“She hasn’t seen the sun in a month,” Fee noted. “She’s going stir-crazy.”

“That’s all?” Rakgi said, incredulous.

“Rakgi!” Geras scolded.

“What?” The red Guardian turned to her. “How was I supposed to know – ”

“That maybe you ought to let your familiar get some air once in a while?” Geras said. “Flamecaller, Rakgi.”

“Maybe Rakgi needs a familiar that’s easier to care for,” Kelsus suggested, from the top of Geras’ head. “Like maybe a mushroom, or a snail. Or a rock?”

As usual, Geras couldn’t tell whether the Fae was joking. Rakgi didn’t take it as particularly friendly, though, glaring up at Kelsus. And perhaps he would have gotten the chance to retort if his Serthis had not chosen that instant to launch herself, snarling, at Fee, who’d slid forward again to try to talk to her.

“Fee!” Geras said, leaping forward at once so that the Carmine’s fangs latched onto her wrist rather than Fee’s shoulder. The Opheodrys Serthis launched herself over Geras’ intervening limb, throwing her counterpart onto her back and slashing at her with scything claws as she struggled to rise. Rakgi was making small distressed noises and otherwise being completely useless, so Geras was the one who grabbed Fee around the waist and pulled her off the other Serthis. The Carmine tried to follow, despite the blood leaking from half a dozen cuts on her thin shoulders, and Geras batted her away with her other forelimb. A bolt of magic from Kelsus, who’d taken flight as Geras’ movement upset his perch, sent the red Serthis to the ground – unconscious, Geras hoped.

“You’re bit!” Rakgi said, shrilly.

In Geras’ talons, Fee was hissing, eyes slitted, still watching the other Serthis. Geras tried to put her thoughts in order, which was hard, because there was blood pumping in her ears and her bitten wrist was burning like no fire she’d ever felt. She was a large enough dragon that the Carmine’s venom probably wouldn’t kill her – but it would hurt like the Flamecaller’s own fires, and she couldn’t put Fee down because the Opheodrys Serthis still looked liable to attack the limp snake-creature, even if she wasn’t fighting Geras’ grip.

“Rakgi,” Geras said. “Rakgi. Get your thrice-cursed familiar out of here.”

He moved to obey at once, wings drawn tightly to his body.

“I’ll get Nesita,” Kelsus suggested, and he had already darted out of the room by the time Geras nodded. That was a good idea. Out of all their clan, Nesita knew the most about healing; Nesita would have the best idea of how to help Geras. And once Rakgi got his Serthis out of the room, she could finally release Fee, she hoped.


	5. Chapter 5

“The thing about the sun was a lie,” Fee said.

It took Geras a moment to remember what she was referring to. There had been a bustle of activity since the altercation with Rakgi’s Serthis. Nesita had come to heal Geras, Rakgi had been given a new familiar, Bartos had written the whole thing down… Rakgi and Kelsus had both hung around getting in everyone’s way the whole time, the Fae flitting about in agitation and Rakgi looking characteristically sheepish, until finally Bartos removed them both on some pretense.

The whole time, Fee had stayed coiled quietly by Geras’ side. Now, her wrist bandaged and antivenin applied, Geras turned to her familiar. “Yes?”

“I suppose she was a bit stir-crazy,” Fee admitted. “It’s her clan’s culling time, and she thought she had to fight for her place – that she’d be out if she didn’t kill _someone_. Of course, none of that matters here, but … those instincts are strong.”

“For you too?” Geras asked, remembering how Fee had leapt onto the other Serthis. Then she winced; she wasn’t sure how Fee would take the question, or if she even wanted to know the answer.

A shrug ran down the Serthis’ narrow body. For a long moment there was silence. Geras closed her eyes. She was tired, so tired – Nesita had ordered her to rest, after all. But she was still sitting in Rakgi’s room, from which he had vanished, appropriately embarrassed about the whole debacle. She really ought to go back to her own cavern, and then she wanted to sleep for about a year.

“You moved quickly to defend me,” Fee said, quietly.

“You’re my familiar,” Geras said. Opening her eyes, she dragged herself to her feet. “Come on. I’m going to go take a nap.”

“That doesn’t necessarily – ” Fee began, then stopped, shrugging. She followed silently as Geras trudged back to her own room, glad that hers and Rakgi’s were close – although the proximity was often inconvenient, as it gave Rakgi all the more excuse to pester her.

Really, she didn’t _dislike_  the other Guardian. He just had different concerns than she did, and she wished he’d think things through a little more. He could perhaps pay a bit more attention to what was going on around him and spend a little less time trying to make himself look like a great warrior, a peerless leader, or whatever else he was trying to be. Geras knew well enough what it felt like to be uncomfortable in your own skin, but she didn’t think his method of assuaging that difficulty was going to do much for him.

Reaching her own cavern, she flopped to the floor, exhausted, and dismissed thoughts of Rakgi. He was a big dragon; he’d fumble along without her babysitting him. Sighing, she closed her eyes, resting her head on her arms – and opened them again as Fee brushed against her. Rather to her surprise, the Serthis had coiled up beside her. Those tiny orange eyes met Geras’ own, and she couldn’t tell whether her familiar was looking for approval or daring her to comment. She didn’t have the energy to worry about it, though. Geras curled a little closer around Fee and fell off to sleep almost at once.


End file.
